Delivering the goods: Sweden's midwives stand test of time

STOCKHOLM - Only one ultrasound in nine months and no need to see the doctor or obstetrician: at first glance, Sweden's pregnancy care appears rather simplistic.

But while it may be far from the medical approach to pregnancy seen in most Western countries, where mothers-to-be have loads of doctors appointments and tests, the Swedish system, where midwives reign supreme, has proven its merits.

According to the organisation Save the Children, Sweden is the second-best country in the world to become a mother, behind Finland.

Neonatal mortality is low, at 1.5 deaths per 1,000 - the second lowest in Europe behind Iceland - as is maternal death in childbirth, at 3.1 per 100,000 births, according to the European Perinatal Health Report from 2010.

In Sweden, midwives are entrusted with caring for the health of the expectant mother and the foetus. It is the only pregnancy care available to women, and is free for the patient, falling under state healthcare benefits.

"A doctor can be called in at the midwife's initiative as soon as she notices that something is not right," says Sofie Laaftman, a midwife in central Stockholm.

For those accustomed to intensive medical care during pregnancy, the Swedish way may seem rudimentary: a few blood and urine tests are done to detect vitamin deficiencies or anomalies, the mother's blood pressure and the heartbeat of the foetus are checked, and a little nutritional advice is doled out.

During a normal pregnancy without complications, just one ultrasound will be done over the whole nine months - and not a single gynaecological exam.

Meanwhile, in France for example, a 2011 report from the health ministry showed 20 per cent of expectant mothers had more than six ultrasounds and four per cent had more than 10 - without any obvious benefit.

"Pregnancy is a normal condition" and not an illness, says Marie Berg, professor in health and care sciences at Sahlgrenska Academy at Sweden's University of Gothenburg.

Laaftman echoed that notion, saying most women under 40 did not need more medicalised care since their bodies were healthy and capable of giving birth, which is after all a natural process.